Kickstarter and the three rules of long tail

Kickstarter, the poster child of the reward-based crowdfunding industry, is quickly becoming a household name.

Part of what has made Kickstarter so successful is its ability to tap into the long tail — a concept outlined by Chris Anderson in a 2004 Wired article.

The long tail has allowed niche products to flourish in the internet age. Consider, for instance, the resurgence of vinyl records, which have been made nearly obsolete by tapes, CDs, and digital distribution. Vinyl sales are at their highest since 1997, largely thanks to the ability of consumers to make clear that there is still demand for the medium. Indeed, the Universal Music Group has been so intrigued by the resurgence that it’s launching a re-pressing service powered by crowdfunding script.

Kickstarter, as Max Macaluso and David Gardner of the Motley Fool recently reminded us in the video below, is almost an inevitability of the internet, a service that perfectly positions itself to profit from the long tail.

Read more : http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/kickstarter-and-the-three-rules-of-the-long-tail/29454